Admiration destroyed
by RoseForEverAfter
Summary: Kari reflects on her adolescence. If you are sensitive about Tai read with caution.


Authors note: if you like Tai...don't read this  
  
Kari's POV  
March 7, 2005  
You probobly remember me as the little twelve year old who loved   
taking pictures. Not anymore. A lot can happen in six years.  
I turned eighteen a week ago. Tai turned twenty-two. He  
never did go to college because of something that happened when he was   
sixteen. That is what i'm here to tell you about.  
  
One night, after he had been dumped by his girlfriend Sarah,  
I saw Tai give himself his first injection of cocaine. It was  
agonizing, to watch him do something that I knew would eventually  
kill him if he kept it up. I thought about telling mom, but since I was   
grounded for failing math, I didn't want to mess with her. Now   
I wish I had told her then maybe she could have stopped him before   
it was too late.   
  
That was only the beginning. Soon he started drinking, staying  
out late, and his grades were slipping too. In fact they slipped so  
much that he's still a junior in high school![and i'm a senior] I   
couldn't believe that this was the same Tai I had looked up to  
so much. It was even weirder being in the same class as him   
[when he didn't cut class that is] and doing better than him.  
  
I finally relised what the source of all this was. Remember  
how I said this all started because of his girlfriend Sarah dumping   
him? The really bad stuff started because of his new girlfriend.  
Name: Layla Iwaker aka the little devil girl.  
  
It was not only that kind of stuff that went on. During the summer two years   
ago when we were alone one night Tai threw a glass bowl at me and it smashed   
against my left breast. I had to get twenty-three stitches and the whole   
area was bruised for several weeks. Needless to say I didn't get any   
swimming done that summer.  
  
Nothing seemed to stop Tai from destroying his life. Even Layla's death  
from a gunshot wound didn't seem to waver him at all. Until one night that  
everyone in our family will remember forever. That night when my parents   
were at a meeting, and I was at a movie with my friend Melody to celebrate  
the end of midterms, Tai attemped to end his suffering. Permanantly.  
  
When Melody and I got back form the movie, laughing, Tai was laying   
on the couch. There was a knife beside him on the ground and his left wrist   
was bleeding liberally. I tried to apply pressure to his arm and franticly   
told Melody to call 911.  
  
The ambulance took him to the hospital. They labled it as a suicide   
attempt. You know how I said I couldn't believe this was really my brother?  
Well this tripled that. I had always looked up to Tai, he used to be a good   
student, he was fairly popular, and until I joined the cheer squad he was our  
families first jock.   
  
Thinking about that while listening to the beeping of his heart moniter  
brought back another unpleasant memory. About a month ago there had been   
a huge cheerleading competition against our big rivals at Shinjuku High.   
They had only been able to choose five girls to compete. Surprisingly, my   
friend Naoke Tachibana and I, had made the cut.  
What broke my heart was on the day when I looked into the stands and though   
my parents were there, Tai wasn't. Why he wasn't i will never quite   
understand, because he knew how important this was to me.  
  
After I thought about this a lot, a doctor came in. He told me that Tai would  
be fine. That night my parents tried to figure why he would do this to himself.  
After they asked me I finally broke down and told them what had ben happening   
since I was thirteen. My parents were shocked, and I don't blame them. I explained  
to them what I had seen that night and what had really given me that scar on  
my breast. I had never told them because I was scared of both them and Tai.  
  
My dad finally put his foot down. He confronted Tai and a week later decided   
to send him to a school in Kobe for kids who have had drug and alchohal problems,  
or trouble with the police. I haven't seen him since.  
  
Now what has become of me? Even by my standards, I've done pretty well.  
I was a cheerleader for four straight years, did community service, and maintained  
a 3.87 gpa. The reason I am writing this right now is as an essay for entrance to  
Sapporo University. You were supposed to write about something in life that has   
touched you deeply. Lets just say my choices are obviose ones to people who know  
me.  
  
The night they took Tai away, I made a promise to myself. I would not do   
destructive things to my body just to get revenge, or to please someone. Currently   
I am just trying to do good in college with a major in english and minor in graphic  
art. But if I ever do have children this is one of the few messages I have convinced   
myself to pass on to them. 


End file.
